Oh "K" Already

Friday, July 11, 2008

DAY 3 Continued. . .

We went back in time. . .

to ride THIS

through THESE. . .

to get HERE!!!

We took the Roaring Camp Railroad through the Redwoods to the top of Bear Mountain.

HOW FUN!!!!

When we got back to the train station the boys ran over to this. . .

(In Kristopher's defense - I don't think he knew he was posing as a lady!)

Thursday, July 10, 2008

DAY 3

SANTA CRUZ

When we stepped up on the boardwalk

Kris darted away for a minute -

I turned my head and he was standing there

staring at the ocean!

I Love That My Kids Love The Ocean!

I didn't see the ocean until I was 16 years old and I love that my kids have grown up with the ocean and the beach!

As I was savoring that moment - Kyle and Kale had already headed to the rides!

I can only imagine what this conversation was about. . .

Looks pretty serious - do you know you are about to enter a deep dark tunnel????

OK - this picture does not do this ride justice.

First of all Kale was the "responsible rider" that Kris had to go with . . .

Scary Already

This is that ride that you go up and then fall down and then go up a little, then down a little, up and down, up and down, you get the idea. . .

I HAVE NEVER SEEN A LOOK OF PANIC ON KRISTOPHER'S FACE

(I have tried many times to invoke this fear into him as we have had our power struggles)

The worker must have thought we were the worst parents because as our child was fearing for his life Kyle and I were laughing so hard.

It was so funny - but I do think we traumatized him - he was nervous about riding any rides from that point on . . .

BUT. . . that didn't stop us from riding!

SEE TRAUMATIZED. . .

Kale had a blast!

He even got to ride by himself on the HANG-GLIDING RIDE!

And then I told Kristopher we were going to go for a FUN BOAT RIDE!!!

Ha Ha Ha!!!!

Then we headed to the

BEACH

The BOYS had a great time wiping out in the OCEAN. . .

and the SAND!

While Mom and Dad hung out together on the BEACH. . .

With Kara of course!!!!!!

DAY 2

The boys started Day 2 off by waking up early

and fishing at Quarry Lakes with Dad and Papa!!!

We then all piled in the car and headed to:

MONTEREY

Kyle and I spent our Honeymoon in Monterey and haven't been back since . . .

So I was probably most excited about this day -

I wanted to see the little bed and breakfast we stayed at. . .

I wanted to see the beach that I remember walking on and thinking to myself "I'm married"

I wanted to see the restaurant that we spent over $100 on dinner and thought we were royalty!

I just wanted to remember all the feelings I had 11 years ago as a newlywed . . .

BUT NO!

As I am sitting in the back seat of the mini-van surrounded by my two boys fighting and teasing each other I made a mental note to myself **DO NOT bring your children back to Monterey with you - next time only bring your husband.

Now it's not quite as bad as it sounds. . .

The kids had a great time at the AQUARIUM

Even Kara loved it!

And Papa finally found someone who hadn't heard his stories before!

It was during the 17 mile drive (which is absolutely gorgeous) and our time in Carmel that I wanted to drop my boys off on the 18th hole of Pebble Beach Golf Course and drive away!!!!

"I'm bored." "This is BORING." "Drive Faster." "Where are we going?"

"When does this road end?" "How far are we from Nana and Papas?"

"I wish we had a DVD Player."

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

We are on one of the most beautiful drives in the entire country (which we had to pay over $9.00 for) and you want to watch a MOVIE?????

Kyle and I on the same beach 11 years later . . . WOW!!

Then we went to the Mission in Carmel.

BEAUTIFUL

If you notice no kids in the picture -

You guessed it - THEY WERE BORED!!!!

So when we eventually headed home I started to feel a little resentful. Here I had been looking forward to this day and I kinda felt like it was a letdown because my kids complained the whole time but as I again sat in the back seat way far away from my husband I looked up and realized that for the entire day my view from the backseat

was my husbands sexy eyes.

So as I looked into those eyes (something I haven't really done in a long time) I realized how far we have come in 11 years - and even though at this point I had two heads sleeping on each of my shoulders I wouldn't trade where I was now for anything.

LET THE VACATION (STAYCATION) BEGIN. . .

After Kara was born I told Kyle that I really wanted to take a trip to Utah this year with the kids. I haven't seen my extended family in a long time and the boys love Temple Square and I wanted to visit my mom's grave again. With all that we already had planned this summer it didn't look like it was possible but Kyle did some magic with his schedule and we planned the trip over the 4th of July . . . so what does this have to do with the Jelly Belly Factory? Well, Gas prices put a kink in our plans. We looked at finances and just decided it was going to be too much money to make the drive! So enter PLAN B:

Nana and Papa Kennan told us we could use their house as our hotel and vacation from there!

And that's exactly what we did.

So the day after the 4th we headed down to Fremont. . .

and on the way we made a stop at the Jelly Belly Factory for the FREE tour!

We spent most of our time at the SAMPLE BAR!!!

What better way to start a vacation then with FREE Jelly Bellys!!!!!

We finally made it to Fremont and spent the day with this Lady . . .

And this guy . . .

At Lake Elizabeth!

And then we ended the day at Banchero's celebrating

Nana and Papa's 61st Wedding Anniversary!!!

We then headed home and geared up for DAY 2!

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

FOURTH OF JULY

HAPPY 4th OF JULY

So the 4th of July is my favorite holiday - I don't really know why. I can't pinpoint any one reason or one memory that stands out as to why it is my favorite holiday. I guess I just like what we celebrate on this day.

I love this country and I feel blessed to be an American and I want to instill that pride into my children so the 4th of July is a BIG DEAL to me and is full of TRADITIONS.

So growing up my family and I would always go to the PARADE in downtown Provo!

Anyone who has ever been to that parade knows it's a big deal.

I remember even camping overnight to get a spot on the parade route.

So 4 years ago when we moved to Roseville and I heard they had a parade I knew our family would be there. The parade started at 10:00 am and I wanted to have at least a decent seat so I sent Kyle at 7:00 am armed with lawn chairs and his law school books to save us a place on the parade route. When I showed up at 9:00 am with the boys Kyle was the only (YES THE ONLY) one on the entire parade route!!!

BUT we got the best seat and it has turned into a tradition to get that SPOT!

So each year Kyle drops us off (at around 8:30) - we get OUR SPOT - and he goes and gets us doughnuts for breakfast.

The boys have a great time waiting for the parade - They get to play catch along the sidewalk (look closely - I 'm not lying when I say we are the only ones along the parade route)

Grandma and Grandpa always meet up with us as well.

This year we even let some of our close friends in on the secret spot (even though I tried to tell them the wrong location) they eventually found us! It was fun having company this year!

Grandma and Kara

Kara was amazed with the FLAG!

Kale couldn't contain his excitement

(I didn't even know he could do that)

Now I'm not sure if this truly was a hug - or the beginning of a wrestling move. . . but luckily I had the camera ready - I choose to believe it was a brotherly hug and for that this truly was the best day ever!!!!

AND THAT WAS JUST THE BEGINNING. . .

In the afternoon we headed over to hang out with friends, do a little swimming, eat ALOT of food, have a lot of laughs . . . AND